The present invention pertains to cover assemblies for fastening to objects disposed therein and more particularly to marker cover assemblies that are attachable to guy wires.
It is known to fasten bright colored guy markers over portions of guy wires near the ground to make them readily visible to pedestrians. Additionally, the guy markers are constructed with a smooth outer surface to minimize the risk of injury to pedestrians should they accidentally walk into a guy wire.
Commonly, the guy markers are formed by extruding a plastic tube. The tube may be formed with a longitudinal slit therein defining opposing longitudinal edges. These edges may abut one another or overlap.
To position the guy marker over the guy wire the guy marker may be pried open temporarily to permit entry of the guy wire in the tube, or an end of the wire may be fed through the guy marker as one would feed electrical wire through conduit.
There has long been a need to prevent sliding of the guy marker relative to the guy wire. A suggested approach has been to include a clamping device with the guy marker so that the marker can be fixedly positioned on the guy wire.
Many clamps have been proposed such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,664 to Bogese, II and U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,340 to Bogese et al. In each of these patents, there is disclosed a clamp that is attached to an inner surface of a guy marker having a guy wire disposed therein. To close the clamp on the guy wire, a bolt is passed through a bore in a first clamp member and threadably received in a bore formed in a second, opposing clamp member. By rotating the bolt, it is threaded through the threaded bore, which causes the second clamp member to move toward the first clamp member.
A problem with past proposals like those disclosed above is that the clamps tend to close inadvertently due to normal vibration or other movement during shipping of the guy markers or while they are transported to the job site. The clamps close primarily because sliding can occur relative to the bolt/second clamp member (which are coupled via a threaded bore in the second clamp member) and the first clamp member. Another, ancillary reason for the inadvertent closing of the clamp is that vibration/movement causes the bolt to rotate, which in turn threads the bolt into the threaded bore causing the opposing clamp member to move toward the other.
The problem with clamps inadvertently closing is that it results in making installation difficult and it prolongs the time required for installing guy markers. Specifically, workers are required to perform the extra steps of checking to see if the clamp is open or closed, and if closed, are required to reopen the clamp before installation is possible.
Another problem with past proposals is that none of the clamps provides for the combination of metal-to-metal contact between the bolt head and the clamp and accessibility of the bolt head from outside of the guy marker. Metal-to-metal contact is preferred over the situation where the plastic guy marker is "sandwiched" between the bolt head and the clamp, i.e. metal-to-plastic contact.
When a clamp is designed to have metal-to-plastic contact, tiny cracks form in the plastic guy marker, also known as "starring", under the bolt head. Eventually, the "starred" plastic breaks away, thus permitting movement of the guy marker relative to the clamp which is the situation trying to be avoided in the first place.
Another problem with metal-to-plastic contact is that the plastic under the bolt head gradually travels out from under the bolt head. This is known as "creeping" by those skilled in the art.
Metal-to-metal contact is preferred because the problems of "creeping" and "starring" do not exist in this situation. It should be noted that the term phrase "metal-to-metal contact" as used herein is intended to have a broad definition including any type of metal. Additionally, it may include any hardened material, whether naturally occurring or synthetically produced, that does not substantially degrade under a clamping pressure.
Plastic-to-metal contact is shown in the clamps disclosed in the Bogese, II patent. Also, the clamp is not designed with a bolt head that is accessible for tightening the clamp from the outside of the guy marker. Rather, the clamps have recesses formed therein for receiving bolts that are passed through holes formed in the guy marker and into the recesses.
The effect of this design is to require more time for installation because the bolt head, or screw head as the case may be, is not accessible from the outside of the guy marker. Thus, workers have to carefully fit a socket wrench or screwdriver into the hole in the guy marker to tighten the clamp on the guy wire.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cover assembly that is easily and quickly attachable to an object disposed therein.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a marker cover assembly that is easily and quickly attachable to a guy wire.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a clamp that is usable with marker cover assemblies for guy wires and provides easy installation of the cover assembly on the guy wire by being dependably open and ready to receive a guy wire.
A still further object of the present invention is provide a clamp usable in a marker cover assembly for guy wires that provides for the combination of metal-to-metal contact between the bolt head and the clamp, and accessibility of the bolt head from the outside of the guy marker.